Nano Modelling workshop

The event is organized and sponsored by eNanoMapper: Barry Hardy (Douglas Connect), Haramblos Sarimveis, Philip Doganis and George Drakakis (National Technical University of Athens)

Format

The workshop will have the format of several parallel sessions: resembling that of Knowledge Café, where small groups work on specific problems under the guidance of a group leader within a specific time frame. Each exercise will be repeated several times, so that the participants will have the chance to navigate between tables several times during the day and get trained in modelling tools of their choice.

Background

Computational modelling and software tools are increasingly important to support experimental testing and risk assessment in modern nanotoxicology. EU has given particular emphasis to funding research relative to the development of computational methods for toxicological risk assessment of engineered nanoparticles. In particular, six modelling projects (NanoPuzzles, ModENPTox, PreNanoTox, MembraneNanoPart, MODERN, eNanoMapper) have been funded under the FP7 Nano Safety Cluster (NSC) framework and the MODENA COST action was launched.

The successful CompNanoTox conference was organised in Malaga, Spain in September 2015 (http://compnanotox2015.eu/) and brought together researchers involved in all modelling projects and the MODENA COST action in order to integrate and disseminate their work and discuss further needs and perspectives in the area of computational nanotoxicology.

The eNanoMapper Hands-on Workshop on Nano Safety Assessment (February 2016, http://www.enanomapper.net/events/workshop-basel-2016) was organised as part of the eNanoMapper second annual meeting in Basel, Switzerland and gave the opportunity to the participants to learn how to use tools developed by several EU NMP projects (eNanoMapper, NanoFASE, GUIDENano, SUN).

The field of computational modelling in nanotoxicology is evolving, as more researchers and practitioners are starting to use and apply it, the generation of data is expanding and more emphasis is given to the interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems in order to investigate and understand mechanisms of actions.

Objectives

1. Give the opportunity to research groups working on computational nanotoxicology to disseminate their modelling tools based on hands-on examples and exercises 2. Present a collection of modelling tools that can span the entire lifecycle of nanotox research, starting from the design of experiments until use of models for risk assessment in biological and environmental systems. 3. Engage the workshop participants in using different modelling tools and motivate them to contribute and share their knowledge.